Best Places To See Wildlife in the Smokies

It’s officially the season of hot apple cider, warm blankets, and pumpkin patches. It’s also the season for fall festivals, and the Smoky Mountain area is full of them!

Here are three festivals you can enjoy while on your Smoky Mountain vacation.

1. Dollywood Harvest Festival

If you love Dollywood and the fall season then you won’t want to miss this event! From early September to late October this annual celebration marks the best weather and some beautiful fall foliage in the Smokies. Stay late into the evening to see beautifully carved pumpkins, lit up and on display. During the day you’ll enjoy fall themed food, and colorful leaves all throughout the park.

2. Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair

In early to mid October the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair heads into full swing. Artisans from across the country gather to peddle their wares while musicians serenade the crowds. You’ll see everything from woodworking and pottery to handcrafted jewelry and leatherworkings. If you have an appreciation for handmade goods then this event is for you.

3. Wears Valley Fall Festival

The Wears Valley Fall Festival takes place in mid October and is a favorite event for locals. Come experience the hundreds of vendors, melodic live music, and incredible Southern cuisine. If you’re interested in a true rustic, Appalachian festival with plenty to do and see for the whole family, then this one is for you.

No matter the festival you choose you’ll need a place to stay. Choose from one of our many options at Bear Camp Cabin Rentals today!

Black bear, woodchucks, wild turkeys, deer, woollybear, owls, salamanders, hellbender salamanders, robins, hawks, eagles, sparrows, cranes, geese, ducks, frogs, woodpeckers, doves, snakes, turtles, raccoons, red foxes, elk, lizards, anoles, skinks, chipmunks, warblers, ravens, crows, gray wolf, red wolf, otter, falcons, eagles... these are just SOME of the wildlife the Smoky Mountains are famous for having and famous for enticing visitors to come and see. Because so much of the National park areas are ingrained and interspersed across civilization in Sevier County and surrounding counties, there's a decent chance you'll be able to spot some of our quadropedal or avian wild neighbors near the areas you're interested in seeing during your Smoky Mountain getaway.

And for those of you who want to up those chances of seeing Smoky Mountain Wildlife and bring back pictures of critters you don't have in your neighborhoods, we present this article where we can direct you to places that are practically sure to a see a few or more of the animals we listed above. Let's look:

The Hiking Trails

Naturally (and that's a pun here), the best places to see Smoky Mountain wildlife is to go out into the National Park and explore the woods (on the marked trails, mind you) where you get to co-mingle with nature at its most naked. On the hiking trails, you might see dozens of varieties of birds, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, salamanders (the Smokies are known for the huge variety of salamanders we have here!), raccoons, and, yes, the black bears we are famous for. Remember that if you are in proximity of wildlife that you are only to view and take pictures, do not get into their spaces - for your safety and theirs. See more on the hiking trails

Ober Gatlinburg's Wildlife Habitat

With so many awesome things to note about Ober Gatlinburg, the fact that they have a lovely wildlife habitat, called the "Wildlife Encounter", can often get buried in their list of attractions. The Wildlife Encounter allows visitors to see bears, otters, flying squirrels, turtles, snakes, bobcats, skunks, raccoon, birds of prey, reptiles and more in an environment that is slightly more open than a zoo-type environment. Definitely guaranteed to get some great animal pictures here! See more on the Wildlife Encounter.

Cades Cove

The jewel of the Townsend side of the Smoky Mountains is the motor tour of Cades Cove. Cades Cove is hard to summarize in a relatively small information entry because it offers an incredible amount of Smoky Mountain wonder for visitors to take in, including nature views, historical buildings, walking trails, and more. The wildlife you can expect to see here include coyotes, white-tailed deer, black bear, raccoon, turkeys, woodchucks and possibly even elk. See more on Cades Cove

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

Another driving nature trail but this time in Gatlinburg, Roaring Fork is another splendid chance to see a variety of Smoky Mountain goodness - thick, lush forest, waterfalls and rushing stream, trailheads for hiking and the very good chance you might get to see bears, deer, birds of prey, raccoon, and the others mentioned above. See more on Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail .

BONUS:

Rainforest Adventures

Can't have an article on where to see awesome animals in the Smokies without mentioning Rainforest Adventures. While this is not a Smoky Mountain animal habitat area like Ober Gatlinburg above, it's well worth the visit all the same. Loads and loads of exotic animals in one neat little attraction just off the main parkway in Sevierville that includes kinkajous, servals, porcupines, lemurs, coatimundis, parrots, parakeets, caiman, turtles, tortoises, chinchillas, many types of snakes and, yes, more. See more on Rainforest Adventures

Dollywood

Dollywood needs no introduction and it is included here because they have, on-park, a very respectable bird sanctuary with the Wings of America Show Birds attraction. You get to see many raptor birds that are tame and used to seeing crowds as well as a huge bald eagle sanctuary. See more on Dollywood